Atwood

Atwood

Species: Northern Saw-whet Owl

Nicknames: None yet!

Sex: Presumed female

Hatched: 2017

Arrived: 2019

Condition: Wing injury (cause unknown)

Atwood’s Story:

Atwood was found in the wild with a wing injury and admitted to Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge for treatment. It isn’t clear how she was injured, but common causes of injury for these tiny owls include window collisions, vehicle collisions, and attacks by outdoor cats. Regardless of the cause, the injury left her unable to fly and she was deemed non-releasable.

Atwood joined Wild Ontario in 2019 when she was just two years old. The world can be a big, scary place for a very small owl, so Atwood’s training had to be slow, careful, and sensitive. After a lot of hard work she has become an absolute star in our education programs. Even though she’s no bigger than a pop can, she never fails to totally wow an audience.

Atwood helps us teach about one of Ontario’s lesser-known owl species, and about how the things we do can have an impact on all of the creatures, big and small, that we share our province with.

Northern Saw-whet Owls are Ontario’s smallest owl species. They may be very tiny, but they are ferocious hunters of rodents and other small, furry animals. Many Northern Saw-whet Owls head south in the winter to spend the cold season in the southeastern United States.